For the past four and a half months, football consumed a lot of the coverage from the Sun Journal.

It draws most of the interest.

We recently wrapped up the most memorable season this county has ever had.

The New Bern Bears won the 4A state championship with a dramatic 39-38 win over Porter Ridge. The Havelock Rams took care of Concord, 55-21, in the 3A state championship.

Craven County had two of the eight state champions. New Bern and Havelock owned a combined 31-1 record.

How many counties can lay claim to two state champions in a single season?

As we move away from football season, and inch closer toward a new year, the Sun Journal has a short time to get a lot of work done.

The post-state championship coverage will include a special insert section to commemorate the titles won by Havelock and New Bern. That pullout insert will be distributed on Dec. 20.

There are ring ceremonies, championship parades, oh, and we are providing coverage of winter sports teams.

Then comes the task of awarding our postseason accolades ó or the All-Sun Journal team, along with Player of the Year and Coach of the Year.

Itís a challenging job to decipher who the best players are, based on position, between five schools.

We hope to finalize our list (we may use Santa Claus to help with the list) on Monday or Tuesday. The All-Sun Journal Team will run on Sunday, Dec. 23.

We have an abundance of gifted athletes, so to make things clear, this is how we decide our all-area football team.

On offense, we pick a quarterback, two running backs, three wide receivers, five offensive linemen and an athlete.

On defense, we have spots for four defensive backs, three linebackers, four defensive linemen, an athlete and a kicker/punter.

Itís the best players in the coverage area at each position.

We come up with a rough draft, talk it over with the head coach of each team and get their nominees and perspective, then discuss it in the sports department of the Sun Journal and make sure we have the best squad possible.

There are certain qualities we look for when choosing our player and coach of the year. The player of the year has to have a strong leadership quality, on and off the field. Of course stats are important, but they arenít the only thing we look for in a player of the year candidate.

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The player has to have a drive to win.

For the coach of the year, the coach needs to set a good example to his players ó and I believe all our coaches have that quality.

They must have a winning result, at the end of the season, and be dedicated to protecting his players on and off the field.

Itís been an exhilarating football season, and an all-around sports year in 2012.

Also, keep your eye out for our annual top 10 sports stories of the year, along with the Sun Journalís Athlete of the Year.

Adam Thompson can be reached at 252-635-5669 or at Adam.Thompson@newbernsj.com. Follow Adam on Twitter @Adam_matic.